StoriesAboutLove
by RawrMonsterOwnsCereal
Summary: Collection of stories I found during WinterReading. Most of them are pretty good. : review please!


_[editor's note]_

_well, I guess i'm not really the editor. I found this story in a collection at the library._

_don't know if you have it at YOUR library, so I took the liberty of typing it up for you._

_the author of this is most likely gay, but I haven't researched him, so I don't know._

_not that there's anything wrong with that. the story IS about a straight couple._

_If Linda Bieber is reading this, it's a metaphor..or something of the sort, right?_

_Please don't sue me! I'm giving you free advertising, david levithan!_

_-R.M.O.C_

_**Author : David Levithan**_

_**Book: How They Met and other stories**_

_**Story: Escalator: a love story**_

_**Pages: 76 – 83 **(there's no chapters, it's a short story.)_

_The Escalator : A Love Story_

_When I was born, my mother loved me. That was love –_

_the pain and such and my head snapped into shape _

_by a nurse. (of course, I'm being overdramatic. Of course _

_I don't remember this – I don't remember any of the times_

_when I was very young and everyone looked at my little body –_

_so chubby – and loved me instantly. Why would I want _

_to remember such pure love?) Certainly, my family will always_

_love me – it's part of the package, the unwritten pledge. But_

_what was my introduction to earned love? Well, I fell for_

_Emily Mercer in kindergarten. She had red hair, freckles,_

_and my heart. It didn't work out. I broke a few crayons._

_Maybe I've been harmed because my best friends have been girls_

_I grew up seeing both sides of love and why guys were_

_slime. That was always the word. Slime. So I had to prevent_

_myself from doing slimy things because I wanted to be in love_

_sometimes with my best friends. (Now there's a complication.)_

_Sure, I had crushes in elementary school. But mostly I watched,_

_gossiped about who would be getting valentines signed "Love,"_

_and who would send Love and get nothing in return_

_Even in junior high –– what did I know? I had an early inkling_

_that the boyfriend/girlfriend stuff wasn't love, just a way to fill_

_the space next to you. Love was long run and nothing_

_would ever be long run in junior high._

_Now i'm in high school, wanting to fall in love_

_if it's not inconvenient. Do I want to be in love? Yes_

_and sometimes no. Do other people want me _

_to be in love? Hell, yes. That's why I am here now, _

_wandering around the mall with Mandy. Such a name, Mandy._

_Not the kind poets have fun with. It's a plain name and she's_

_pretty plain herself. This isn't to say I don't like her. I do._

_I like her, she likes me. We leave it at that. When you're in _

_high school, love is rare and like is enjoyable, so you just take_

_what you can get. And I got Mandy._

_We're here in the mall, looking for a birthday present. _

_It's assumed we'll be giving a present together –– that's what _

_couples are supposed to do. After a while, you become part_

_of a proper noun. We're Daniel-and-Mandy. It makes people_

_happy and jealous. I feel it, too, when I look at other couples _

_with something real between them. I look at their eyes, the way_

_the know each other's paragraphs, and something seems right._

_I doubt people see that in me and Mandy, but I hope they do._

_We might as well make them happy and jealous._

_Mandy and I are walking through the hall, holding hands. _

_That's about as close as we usually get. We've kissed,_

_and that's about it. We don't really hang out on the fast track._

_Our friends say we fit and I imagine us as Legos. My mother _

_once told me that you really know someone when you know _

_their parents. I think this was her way of telling me to invite_

_Mandy over to dinner. I never have, although I guess I should. _

_I've only been over to her house a few times. I still haven't me_

_her father, although I think my father knows him. (I'd remark_

_here that it's such a small world.. but the truth is that_

_it's just a small town.)_

_What do I know about love? Not much – that's the safe answer._

_Even when I think I have a grasp on it, something comes along _

_to make me realize I don't know anything at all. It's just a_

_concept to me. It's the thing that all the songs are written about,_

_a concept, it makes me a better observer. And it also leaves a _

_place inside of me hollow. Sometimes I can actually feel it. To_

_reach down inside that part – I wonder how it would feel, to_

_touch a void. That nameless empty._

_This makes me seem lonely, which isn't really true. I have other_

_parts of me – friendship for one – which compensates _

_for the void. I can't feel the nothingness except in those rare _

_times when there's nothing else to feel._

Mandy must fit into a part of me. I don't feel alone as we walk

from card store to card store. It feels nice to hold her hand.

Not spectacular, but nice. We can't really find an interesting

card. The stores are full of artificial rainbows, nicotine-voiced

sarcasm that's never actually funny, and cute little cartoon

animals holding Happy Birthday balloons. After making the

rounds we decide to back upstairs to Hallmark

and give in to Snoopy and Woodstock.

_There's nobody on the escalators. There's really no one in the_

_mall. It's February and, as my father loves to point out, we're in_

_a recession. Occasionally an employee will pass us, wearing a_

_T-shirt that says, _In My Life, I Love The Mall_. Looking at the_

_escalator, I have an idea. (It's actually more of an impulse than_

_an idea.) I turn to Mandy and say, "Why don't we go down the _

_up escalator?" – I used to love to do that when I was a kid, and_

_me and my friend Randy would be able to fit side by side and _

_race to the top. Running to stay still. Mandy just gives me this_

what are you talking about? _look that tries to convince me she_

_isn't in the mood. I leap onto the third or fourth stair and _

_start running._

_The rest of the mall dissolves – I feel my legs pushing me up_

_against the flow. I'm making it – step, and step, and step. I_

_reach the final leap – the most dangerous part. Especially if your_

_shoelaces are untied, as mine are. I take a breath and jump onto_

_the second level's marble floor. I raise my arms to complete the _

_arc like a champion Olympic gymnast, conqueror of the mall._

_I look down and see Mandy at the base of the escalator, making_

_mock clapping gestures. "Come on," I yell, motioning for her _

_to follow. She touches her hair in hesitation. I can feel the reason _

_killing the impulse. "You can do it," I say, but she shrugs._

_I don't understand. Anyone can do it. We're at some sort of_

_standstill, like when a conversation abruptly stops_

_and you can't think of anything more to say. I don't think_

_she's going to do it. I really hope she does._

_I'm about to yell, "Don't bother" with a particular edge_

_in my voice. But when Mandy pulls her coat firmly around her_

_shoulders and throws herself onto the downward escalator. _

_How can I explain what I suddenly feel? I see her jump,_

_her hair lifting in the air, and I can't help but think something _

_along the lines of _Wow.

_I once asked Randy how he knew _

_that he had fallen in love with his girlfriend, Amy, and he just_

_looked at me like it was the hardest question in the world._

_I expected some floral, florid explanation, about the air_

_lightening and flute music filling his ears. The relationship_

_that had him so transfixed – I expected a masterpiece of_

_sentiment, one that would make me so happy for him and _

_so empty inside. Instead he just turned to me and said,_

"_The minute I knew I was in love was the minute when_

_there was no question about it. One night I was lying _

_in the dark, looking at her looking at me, and it just _

_was there, undeniable."_

_There is no question about it. I look in amazement _

_as Mandy pushes herself up the stairs, not looking up_

_at me, concentration on her footwork. I want so much_

_for her to reach the top. I want her to reach me _

_at this very moment. I picture myself embracing her _

_when she makes it, looking into her eyes for the_

_confirmation of my feelings. What do I feel? If it isn't_

_love, then it's certainly potential for love, the realization_

_that there's more to us than liking and dating and being_

_each other's Pictionary partners. I'm so happy. I'm so_

_afraid. Does she feel the same way? All I know_

_is that I know. When she reaches the top, maybe I'll_

_dance with her to the piped-in non-music drifting _

_from the ceiling. I'll do anything 00 I want to do something_

_totally strange and new and special. I want to hold her. _

_I want to sleep with her – fall asleep with her in my arms. _

_I want to wake up that way. I've never seen her asleep._

_All of these strange impulses— I want to tuck her in._

_I want to be there, and there, and be there._

_And then she falls._

_It's over before I can register what's happening. Her foot_

_hits one of the steps and, well, she trips. It isn't dramatic –_

_she doesn't fall down the escalator or anything._

_It isn't even good comedy. She just stumbles face-first onto the _

_steps. Then she pushes herself up and rides the rest of the way_

_down. I run to her – it's as if i'm moving doubly, being _

_carried as I go down. I get to her. I can't tell if she's crying _

_or laughing. "I can't do anything!" she says, brushing back _

_her hair, and I see her exasperation isn't serious. I say_

_something along the lines of "Don't be silly, it could've_

_happened to anyone," and gather the things that fell _

_from her bag. She's still sitting when i'm done, so I offer her_

_my hand. She doesn't get up – she just keeps looking at me, _

_not at my hand but at my face. I put the bag down and sit_

_beside her, right there on the floor of the mall. "Are you _

_okay?" I ask. She says, "I fell," and I say, "I think I've fallen too."_

**(isn't that sweet?)**

_It's never like the movies, is it? A great romantic moment, and _

_clunky, corny things just tumble out. "Oh," she says, And I wonder_

_if she's saying it just to see what I'll offer next._

"_Yeah," I reply saying it to see what she'll say next._

_Which is, "You have to be careful." Now what does that mean?_

_Indirect discretion. No one wants to fully commit –_

_everyone's afraid that they're misinterpreting because no one_

_is talking straight. Playing the old What-Are-You-Thinking? Game._

_You have to be careful. Mandy has skinned her hands _

_and her lip has a little cut in one of it's corners._

_I kissed her anyway._


End file.
